Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 915, 08.914: 'The Retrograde on the Collapsing Defense Line'

The group of Dark Eldar moved with haste, like fish being chased by unseen predators. They spotted the Imperial Navy's Valkyrie transport ship, and the gunners on board immediately grabbed the swivel gun and tried to take aim.

But the Hell Soldiers operating the machine guns on either side of the Valkyrie transport plane had already pulled the triggers.

Puff puff--

The red beams of the laser cannon, like scorching whips, swept across the smooth hull of the "Raider" cruise ship.

The Dark Eldar warriors who were leaping and bounding on the surface were shot and, before they could even scream, were torn to pieces and fell silently from a height of a thousand meters.

The other Eldar quickly hid behind the sparse railings and ship hull structure.

The weapons operator beneath the nose of the Valkyrie fighter turned his head, his helmet moving in sync with the rotating laser cannon below, locking onto the intruders who had suddenly entered the formation. The fighter opened fire, a denser barrage of fire raining down on the fleeing Marauder cruise ship.

Horatio gripped the cold bulkhead tightly as he heard Anya Farshade's brief report from the noisy communications that enemy activity had been detected in the airspace ahead.

Just as he heard what was happening ahead, a row of silver-white, serrated steel teeth suddenly burst out from the sandstorm to the side—it was a green-skinned, bright yellow fighter jet!

Its air intake, resembling that of a MiG fighter jet from the ancient planet Terra, is painted with gleaming silver teeth, like a shark suddenly bursting out of the sand, ready to devour its prey.

They were pursuing a Dark Eldar raider ship when they were deliberately lured into the Imperial Navy's air formation and began a frenzied, shark-like attack.

"Help! Help! We've lost our tail fin! The right engine has exploded! We're going to crash!"

The tail of a Valkyrie was severed by the rapidly firing automatic cannon. The plane immediately lost its balance in the sky and fell into a deadly spin. Those Hell Soldiers who hadn't yet jumped from the cockpit were violently thrown out by the centrifugal force of the high-speed rotation, like puppets with broken strings, scattering downwards in all directions.

May the God Emperor bless them, and hopefully the gravity umbrella will be opened in time.

"Descend! Dive! Dive!" Horatio issued an emergency evasive maneuver order to all transport aircraft pilots.

Above him, the "Fury" interceptors, locked in fierce combat, were locked in a brutal battle with the green-skinned "MiG" fighters and the Dark Eldar "Raven" ultralight fighters amidst the raging sandstorm.

The tracer fire of live ammunition, the blazing red lasers, the deadly poison crystal shells and disintegration cannons, and the missiles trailing long contrails intertwined to form a web of death, turning vehicles from both sides into countless burning metal snowflakes falling from the sky.

Under the desperate cover of the interceptor squadron, the transport aircraft fleet quickly descended to a lower altitude.

In a sandstorm with visibility of less than 100 meters, the relatively agile "Valkyrie" led the way.

The spot scanning harpoons on their noses become crucial—they need to constantly scan the terrain ahead, generating a dot map similar to sonar images, providing valuable spot views for the more cumbersome Avilus transport barges following behind.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
The roar of anti-aircraft guns came from all directions as the positions of the Astragalus, Orks, and Eldar indiscriminately fired into the sky.

"Fasha, retreat! We can't afford to let our interceptor squadron suffer heavy losses in the first wave of combat! *Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!* *Buzzing* Stalling, falling!* (Switching to an obscure communication frequency)"

Halfway through his sentence, Horatio heard cries for help from other crews coming through the communication channel between Horatio and Fasha.

"Received, I'm doing my best to organize the breakout! The fleet has already suffered losses. Fortunately, the 'Fury' is tough enough that some of the aircraft made an emergency landing on the sand, and no one died."

"I will try to organize a rescue team and contact the Astral Army on the friendly front to bring the pilot back."

We're almost at our destination.

Retreat immediately, then regroup. You also need to escort the bombers! The second shipment will have to be arranged opportunistically. Hopefully, our Astral Army colleagues can provide some assistance from the ground.

Before he could finish speaking, a raging interceptor, billowing black smoke from its tail, plummeted from the sky. It crashed erratically before Horatio's eyes, slamming heavily to the ground, its entire fuselage instantly ignited by the promethium in its fuel tanks. The scorching flames raised the temperature of Horatio's armor by several degrees.

It is obvious that no one could survive such an explosion.

"Accelerate the disengagement! Utilize the advantages of your void fighters! Withdraw as quickly as possible!" Horatio ordered the Fury Interceptor Squadron.

boom! boom! boom!
One violent sonic boom after another shook the sky.

The "Fury" interceptors activated their afterburners, their engines blazing with brilliant blue flames as they desperately tried to escape from the pursuit of various enemies.

"Commander! We're almost there!" The Valkyrie's pilot turned and shouted to Horatio at the back of the cockpit, "Emergency takeoff ahead! It's the monastery walls!"

call out!call out!
One Valkyrie after another, like agile falcons, suddenly took off and climbed rapidly.

Horatio gripped the bulkhead firmly, his combat boots activating magnetic attachment, allowing him to stand steadily on the deck.

The scene before his eyes instantly transformed into an inverted, blood-red land filled with yellow sand.

Under the warning of "Valkyrie", the "Averus" landing craft also rose one after another, clumsily flying over the high walls of the monastery.

It was a magnificent and sacred building, its imposing Gothic structure gleaming with a dazzling golden light under the yellow sand and starlight. In the equally grand and expansive courtyard in front of the church, imperial soldiers in blue and white uniforms were engaged in a fierce and bloody hand-to-hand battle with the invading enemies.

Close combat ensued, with bayonets drawn.
-
Horatio, who was preparing to parachute, happened to witness what was happening in a corner of the front-line battlefield.

"I order you to return to the battle!"

A female officer, riding a tall, pure white warhorse, is issuing orders to a group of ragged, defeated soldiers.

Her coat was the uniform of an officer from the Sintira Flintlock Regiment, but many parts of her body were replaced with polished plate armor pieces, like those worn by knights, which gleamed in the sunlight.

She resembled a valiant lancer, gripping the military flag tightly in one hand and aiming a laser pistol at the fleeing soldiers in the other.

The Sintira flintlock regiments were known for their generous treatment and highly lax discipline.

Almost no one in the flintlock regiment could find officers with identical uniforms—each person's equipment was closely tied to their family's wealth and their personal aesthetic tastes.

In particular, the so-called "top students of the 17th Regiment".

Just like the second lieutenant Cintira, who ran the fastest in front of the female officer, she was dressed in a completely different style.

His cheeks were even adorned with exquisite rouge and blush—this was no joke, but rather the most popular male fashion style in Cintira's high society.

Some of the flintlock musketeers who were stopped by her gun lost their hats, and some even lost their guns.

They looked dejectedly at the female officer in front of them with a strange expression.

Finally, their gazes all fell on the female officer's unique physical features—she had a pair of long, horse-like ears that extended from the sides of her military cap.

[A...warhorse girl riding a warhorse?] Horatio magnified his eyepiece further in the air, observing this small standoff on the front line.

(End of this chapter)